Oh wow. It’s been a minute since we updated this site but now we have some regular content to put up so here goes:

Penso, a former Ohio Highway State Patrolman, has been officiating Lions games since 2015. We’ve had his services a total of 11 times and for the most part he’s been a solid and fair ref. We are 3-5-3 all time with him but our last 5 matches with him have been WDLWD. However, there was that one time he had a week-long stay on The Trail. On October 25, 2015, the last game of the inaugural season, he clearly had a case of the nasties tagging us with 8(!) yellow cards and gifting an absurd penalty to Philadelphia. If this penalty is legit because it doesn’t matter “the position of the ball” then DC’s goal the other week should have been disallowed. 

https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2015-10-25-philadelphia-union-vs-orlando-city-sc/details/video/53057

Penso Orlando City Game log:

Date             Result        Opponent                 Y        R   

3/13/2015     W    0-1     at Houston        1             
10/25/2015    L    1-0      at Philadelphia   8       1
4/3/2015        L     0-1     DC United             3             
3/6/2016        D     2-2     RSL                        2        1
8/24/2016      L     1-2     Toronto                 2            
10/15/2017    L     0-1     Columbus             3            
4/15/2017      W    2-1    Galaxy           
6/17/2017      D     3-3    Montreal         2
7/7/2018        L      4-1    at Los Angeles FC   2 
4/13/2018      W    0-2    at Philadelphia       1      
9/1/2018         D    2-2     Philadelphia           0     

Penso has carded a record 21 different Orlando City players:

1. Okugo
2. Higuita
3. Shea
4. Ceren
5. Boden
6. Winter
7. Ramos
8. Kaka
9. Rivas
10. Molino
11. Ribeiro
12. Hines
13. Mateos
14. Aja
15. MPG
16. Laryea
17. Johnson
18. Yotun
19. Bendik
20. Dwyer
21. El Munir

Outlook: Not expecting a Ref Belongs on OBT moment this weekend but our boys need to keep their heads about them.

Confirming what unofficial Orlando City social media have surmised for weeks, the club today announced the signing of Paraguayan attacking midfielder Josué Colmán as a Young Designated Player. As Colmán is under 20 years old, his salary will only count as $150,000 against the club salary cap. Colmán was most recently playing for Club Cerro Porteño of Paraguay’s Primera División, where he played a pivotal role in the attack and helped Cerro Porteño win a Torneo Clausura championship. Colmán also made five starts among seven appearances in Copa Sudamericana in 2016 and 2017. Colmán’s deal is for 5 years including options.

Someone looks excited.

From the youtube highlights that can be gleaned, Colmán has a gifted view of the field at all times and is a tenacious attacker of the ball. His determination to fight through challenges fits right in with the Lions’ mentality on the field and goes more than a long way to filling the void the team has had in the attack.

With the retirement of Kaka and the number one goal of making the postseason in 2018, Orlando City was in desperate need of a strong attack and with the addition of Colmán along with MLS All-Star Sacha Kljestan and two time NASL Golden Boot winner Stéfano Pinho, the club looks to be making significant strides in that department. It’s clear though that the team still has work to do before the preseason starts to get to where they need to be but the good news is that they appear to realize it.

Take a look at some of his skills in this video put together by @TheRoarPod: